Chile’s lithium application faces new obstacle, now in Chamber of Deputies

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Partido por la Democracia (PPD) party filed a protective action Tuesday with the Santiago Court of Appeals to halt the controversial lithium bidding process, which was unexpectedly launched by the Ministry of Mines last Oct. 13 to establish special operating contracts for the exploration, exploitation, and utilization of lithium deposits.

This, after the process, reached the political sphere last week, when the order of the president-elect, Gabriel Boric, requested to suspend the award, a step scheduled for next Jan. 14.

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In brief filed against the President of the Republic, Sebastián Piñera, and the Minister of Mines, Juan Carlos Jobet, the deputies point out that “the tender for the exploitation of lithium constitutes an illegitimate, illegal and arbitrary act by the authority,” since the tender “represents a real threat to the legitimate exercise of the rights and guarantees listed in Article 20 of the Political Constitution of the Republic.”

They point to the right to life, equality before the law, the right to live in an environment free of pollution, and the right to ownership of various types of property.

In addition, they argue that the process is a violation of Article 6 of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) since no prior consultation with indigenous people is required, as there are communities recognized by Chilean legislation and owners of indigenous lands in the areas and places near the mineral extraction.

Specifically, the deputies request that the request for protection is approved and that Decree No. 23 of the Ministry of Mines, dated Oct. 13, 2021, which is currently in process, be declared illegal and arbitrary.

This decree establishes the requirements and conditions for the particular operating contract for the exploration, exploitation, and utilization of lithium deposits that the State of Chile will enter into in accordance with the national and international bidding bases approved for this purpose.

At a press conference in the Chamber of Deputies, the chairman of the PPD Bank, Raúl Soto, said that it was considered “necessary to oppose it with all our strength and to strongly oppose the course of this tender and the award, which is to take place at the end of this month.”

In his opinion, this is a violation of fundamental rights. “We believe that the government of President Piñera is putting at risk the general interest of the nation and once again putting business and private interests above the interest of all Chileans to have security and – under state management – a natural resource as strategic and important for Chile’s future as lithium,” he said.

Soto stressed that he is demanding, by means of an injunction, the suspension of the execution of the decree that carries out this tender and intends to award the lithium extraction at the end of January, which “puts in question the future of our country in terms of such an important and strategic natural resource.”

“We will fight because lithium is and should be for Chile and Chileans. Not for a small group of businessmen who are friends with President Sebastián Piñera and want to do business until the last day.”